Can a Massage Therapist Help Pain at the Front of the Knee?

If you have pain at the front of your knee that doesn’t go away, it most likely means you have an injury, specifically a tendon injury. Can a massage therapist help with pain at the front of your knee?

 

The answer is yes, massage therapists can definitely help with this kind of pain and these types of injuries – you just have to find the right one. Those specializing in chronic pain and know how to assess your injury, to figure out exactly where it originates, will be the most helpful. Avoid relaxation massages (because you’re not looking for relaxation, you’re looking to treat an injury) and look for something like “orthopedic manual therapy” instead.

 

If the therapist is unable to treat the injury, for any number of reasons, a good therapist will refer you out to another professional who can.

 

 

Why Does the Front of My Knee Hurt?

The tendon that attaches the quadriceps muscles in your thigh to the front of your knee is the largest and most powerful tendon in the body. Various parts of the tendon have many names, but to keep it simple, you can injure the tendon above, below, or at the sides of your kneecap. When the front of your knee is painful, especially when going upstairs, it means there is an injury in the tendon at the front of your knee.

 

 

What’s the Relevant Anatomy of the Knee?

One of the unusual things about this tendon is that there is a bone, called the patella, in the middle of it that protects the knee and gives it a mechanical advantage. All four quadriceps muscles converge into one tendon just above the kneecap. The tendon then thins out and passes over the kneecap, before thickening again and attaching to the tibia, also known as the shinbone. There are four different places where a strain commonly occurs.

 

 

What Causes the Injury that Causes Front Knee Pain?

A strain occurs in a tendon when it is asked to do more than it can handle. For example, running, playing a vigorous sport, or dancing without a sufficient warm-up. Also, carrying a heavy box up a few flights of stairs puts a tremendous burden on the knee. When people first feel that pain, most just keep going. But at that moment, if you stop, you might be able to avoid a serious injury.

 

 

What Else Could Be Causing Front of the Knee Pain?

Several different problems can cause pain toward the front of the knee. When the pain is deep inside the knee, the knee is a bit swollen, it feels worse when it’s going to rain, and it hurts more going downstairs than upstairs, it’s usually a form of arthritis called chondromalacia. This means there is a wearing away of the cartilage inside your knee, and the bone begins to scrape against another bone.

                                     

Deep in the knee beneath the tendon, there is also something called a bursa, which could also be injured. This hurts when you kneel down on your knee. There are also various other injuries that cause the need to swell and hurt all over, so it can be confusing without proper assessment.

 

 

How Would a Massage Therapist Figure Out What’s Causing Front of the Knee Pain?

If you go to a skilled therapist, they will do a series of simple tests that can easily differentiate what’s causing the pain. The therapist might have you try to kneel down, test to see if there’s any swelling, check your ligaments that hold your bones together, and do some resistance tests that check the tendon.

 

 

Once you know the cause and it’s determined that it is the tendon, the therapist will apply pressure to the different parts of the tendon to see which ones are injured. When they touch the different parts of the tendon with a little bit of pressure, those parts should not be painful at all unless they are injured.

   

 

How Can My Front of the Knee Pain Get Better?

If the injury is very mild, and you rest your knee, the injury might just resolve by itself. But if it lasts more than a week, seeking treatment is the wisest option. When injured, the tendon develops poorly-formed scar tissue that is disorganized in a random fashion. It’s very weak and vulnerable, and re-tear whenever you perform strenuous activities with the knee.

The secret is to eliminate the scar tissue, through treatment, which will allow free movement without pain. This can be done with a hands-on treatment called friction therapy or by a physician doing a special type of injection therapy. As the scar tissue diminishes with treatment, you concurrently do a series of exercises to strengthen both the muscle and the tendon.

 

In Conclusion

If you have a pain in the front of your hip that feels near the surface, find a therapist who knows how to assess and treat tendon injuries. If you live in the Boston area, you can contact me. Or I also do international remote evaluations, which you can find more about here.

 

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If you are experiencing knee pain and live in the Boston area, schedule an appointment or a complimentary 10-15 minute phone consultation.

Schedule an Appointment or Call →

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Ben E. Benjamin holds a Ph.D. in Sports Medicine and was the founder and President of the Muscular Therapy Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He is the author of dozens of articles on working with injuries and chronic pain as well as the widely used books in the field, Are You Tense? Exercise Without Injury and Listen To Your Pain: The Active Person’s Guide to Understanding, Identifying and Treating Pain and Injury. Dr. Benjamin has been in private practice for over 50 years and teaches therapists throughout the country.

 

 

 

Can a Massage Therapist Help Pain at the Front of the Knee? FAQs:

 

• Can a massage therapist help pain at the front of the knee?

If the therapist is skilled at treating chronic pain, they can assess and treat you. If they’re unable to treat it, a good therapist will refer you out to another professional who can.

 

• Why does the front of my knee hurt?

It most likely means you have injured the tendon at the front of your knee.

 

• What’s the relevant anatomy of the knee?

Your quadriceps muscles converge into one tendon that thins out and passes over your kneecap.

 

• What causes the injury that causes front knee pain?

A tendon strain is caused by doing activities that are more than the tendon can handle, like exercising without a warm-up or carrying heavy things up stairs.

 

• What else could be causing front-of-the-knee pain?

It could be a type of arthritis called chondromalacia, a bursa injury, or various other injuries.

 

• How would a massage therapist figure out what’s causing front-of-the-knee pain?

A skilled therapist would evaluate your movement with a series of assessment tests that can help identify the exact structure that’s injured.

 

• How can my front of the knee pain get better?

If it’s a mild injury, simply resting might resolve the pain. If it’s more severe, hands-on friction therapy that eliminates the scar tissue of the injury can help, or you might need injection therapy. As you progress through treatment, your therapist will assign exercises to help strengthen your muscles and tendons.